Doctor and estranged Newman government MP Chris Davis has won nearly $1.5 million from Brisbane's Metro North Hospital and Health Service (MNHHS) after a legal tribunal found he suffered unlawful discrimination owing to his political beliefs and actions.

Key points:

QCAT rules Dr Davis suffered "unlawful discrimination" over a job at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital

Tribunal found Dr Davis was passed over because of his recent political history

Metro North Hospital and Health Service is "seeking further legal advice"

In August 2014 — three months after he was sacked as assistant health minister in Mr Newman's Liberal National Party government — Dr Davis applied for a senior medical officer position at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, controlled by MNHHS.

Dr Davis had resigned as the Member for Stafford about a week after his political demotion at the hands of then premier Campbell Newman.

He had drawn Mr Newman's ire for speaking out against the government's plans for doctor contracts and other government policies.

Though Dr Davis was the only qualified applicant for the position at Royal Brisbane, he never got the job.

On Monday, the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) found MNHHS delayed interviews and eventually decided the appointment would be filled internally.

In so doing, it did not follow its established procedure for recruiting, then processing applications for a senior medical officer.

There was a "disconnect" between what was happening at the time and what was being told to Dr Davis, QCAT presiding member Clare Endicott stated in her written judgment.

"There is no evidence that any steps were realistically taken to proceed with the recruitment process," she said.

"Dr Davis was being told between 2 September 2014 and 26 September 2014 that there were delays occurring that pushed back the likely date for an interview."

But Ms Endicott instead found "there is evidence that there would be no interview after 2 September 2014".

"The only person left out of the loop after 2 September 2014 was Dr Davis," she said.

Ms Endicott singled out the actions of former MNHHS CEO Malcolm Stamp, who was suspended a short time later over an unrelated matter, as well as board chairman Dr Paul Alexander.

She did not accept Dr Alexander's statement that "it was unlikely" he would become involved in a process to fill the senior medical officer role when that application was made by Dr Davis, given the former MP's public stoush with the premier.

"To the contrary, I believe that it would be unlikely that he did not become involved in that application," Ms Endicott said.

"Given the recent turbulent events involving Dr Davis and the Liberal National Party government, it is beyond credence that the chief executive officer would not discuss matters relating to Dr Davis seeking employment as a public hospital doctor with the board chairman," she said in her ruling.

The full payout will be $1,450,771.69.

'No innocent reason' for decision

Ms Endicott said she was satisfied Mr Stamp, in conjunction with Dr Alexander, made the decision to end the recruitment process and not appoint Dr Davis.

She also found no other applicant would have encountered the interference in the recruitment process by the CEO, which would result in it being abandoned before the usual selection phase.

"I find that Dr Davis was treated less favourably in that process," she said.

She said there was "no innocent explanation" given by Mr Stamp or Dr Alexander to negate the inference that Dr Davis was not employed because of his political beliefs and activities.

"In fact, the evidence reveals that no reason was given for the decision by the chief executive officer at that time: not clinical streaming, not budgetary concerns, not a concern about his 'fit' for the role," she said.

"It is reasonable for the tribunal to draw the inference that the reason for the decision was directly connected to who the sole applicant was and to his recent actions (less than four months previously and as recently as late July 2014) as a politician and a potential future political candidate."

Ms Endicott found the decision to end the recruitment process "amounted to unlawful discrimination against Dr Davis".

Dr Davis said he felt vindicated by the decision, but said it "should never have been allowed to happen".

"The ethics of Metro North definitely needs to be looked at. The moral compass seems to have been lost somewhere," he said.

"To apparently come after me in the way that I was persecuted afterwards is very bad for democracy."

In a statement, an MNHHS spokesperson said the claim "dates back a number of years".

"We are carefully considering the QCAT decision and are seeking further legal advice," the spokesperson said.